Acornbread

Yes, I have the acorn cakelet pan. It's lovely to have friends and family who have fed my acorn obsession with acorn gifts including the Pan.

These little cakelets are Hawaiian style cornbread. The cornbread I grew up with was either the Jiffy kind or a sweeter, Bisquick, variety, like the recipe from the first volume of the Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin cookbook. Unlike the cornbread served with beans I discovered in Kentucky, the cornbread is sweet and cake-like, and makes wonderful muffins served for breakfast with jam and more butter.

On the needles, the acorn socks are stalling. I think they are looking too large. I love the way the acorns pop out of the pattern.

Shadow Lace Capelet

Pattern: Adapted from Fluffy Lace Cardigan by Lois Young

from Knitting World, September 1993
Yarn: Knit Picks Shadow, Colorway Sunset, Gifted to me by Chris
Needle: Size 8

I felt like knitting a bit of lace and only had one ball of the yarn. The yarn was a lovely knitting experience! I wish had more to make a whole cardigan with.

I won a contest!

I won a lovely pink wash cloth and sweet lavender soap from Rachel. Thank you!

How she finds time to have contests and do all that she does is always amazing to me. While I'd be pulling my hair out trying to keep up she manages to maintain an eye-catching blog and an Etsy store, can her own fruits and vegies, keep the diva in style and complete many FO's, all the while keeping her wits and humor about her. Very inspiring!

Totoro Pop Up Card Number 2

Just another day in the neighborhood.

My Stampin' Up order came in today. I had a 20% off coupon! Yay! I tried out the texture plate on the green portion and my new (second hand) corner punch. I wish there was an acorn texture plate.

My one knitting WIP is a capelet based on a 1993 pattern by Lois Young. I was gifted a skein of Knitpicks Shadow, colorway sunset, ages ago. The pattern is a cardigan knit top down and oversized like in the day, so I thought I would try knitting the yoke and then just keep going until I got a capelet. The yarn is very nice and I wish I had enough to make a cardigan of some sort.

A Texas cousin is in town with his daughter. One should not wait 59 years to meet a first cousin if at all possible. I really enjoyed catching up with another branch of the tree and hearing new stories about players in my life. His mother and my mother were the youngest in the family and their childhood was unconventional and hard.

A job opportunity came up, but I decided I'm much to busy to commit to a regular schedule even though paychecks are very nice. The Landcaster has saved me $20/year by having me turn off my coffee pot after the morning fix. How did I get such a smart kid? I better pull in the belt and go on a paper/punches/Sizzix die diet. Like sock yarn, glue dots and ink pads don't count. (I don't know if that is written, but I'm just saying)

Totoro Pop up Card

Totoro Pop up Card
Originally uploaded by acornbud

Blogless Melody got me started on the whole stamping, card-making thing by organizing 3 card making sessions, starting with quilted cards for Valentine's Day. Baby sister Rita enabled me further by gifting me some Fiskars scallop and flower punches. Then I "won" two silent auctions for The Bead Gallery's charity auction which was a Sizzix embossing machine and kit and a Stampin' Up coupon for 20% off. Then another blogless friend destashed some lovely paper, punches and brads at prices that I couldn't pass up.

There are so many wonderful tutorials on you tube on how to make paper flowers and pop cards, as well as how to use the Sizzix.

The bottom line is, I needed another hobby like I needed a hole in my head! My yarn, fabric, and bead/wire stashes now have to make room for punches, inks, papers, glue dots and Sizzix attachments!

My mom is threatening to have me star on the hoarding show.

I love making paper flowers! It beats working any day:)

Energy Bars

This recipe was given to my mom by Ruth Y. Brown rice krispies are really good. My sister makes her own marshmallows. I think some mini chocolate chips or mini m&ms would be really yummy.

1 block margarine or butter
1-cup creamy peanut butter
20 oz. Marshmallows
2-cup quick oats
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
5-cups RICE KRISPIES®
1-cup dried cranberries
1-cup crushed unsalted peanuts
1-cup chopped dried apricots
1-cup raisins
1-cup sunflower seeds

Spread oats and sesame seeds on baking pan. Toast 5-10 minutes in 300-degree oven.

In heavy pot over medium heat, melt marshmallows, butter and peanut butter together until marshmallows are all melted.

Mix rest of fruits, nuts and rice krispies together. Stir in marshmallow mixture. Mix and press into jellyroll pan. Using plastic wrap to press it down, or rolling over the plastic wrap with a rolling pin helps to flatten it out. Cut into squares and wrap each in a small square of waxed paper.

Not one, but two FOs

Pattern: Drop stitch pattern from Barbara Walker's book. This pattern has been written up as a scarf on Ravelry by Wohemel. For my version, I CO 40 stitches and included two end stitches.
Yarn: Plymouth Baby Alpaca worsted
Needles: Size 8

I used 3 balls and ended up with 51 inches, not enough for a red scarf project scarf.


Pattern: Creature Comforts Cardi by Madelinetosh
Yarn: Plymouth Jeanee. Needles size 7 and 8 as pattern calls for.
Comments: The oak leaf starts with creating 7 stitches in on, and it left a rather large hole. The Jeanee, being cotton and acrylic stretches them out quite a bit. My sister is modeling the cardi which is actually a shrug. I'm not sure why but on me the cardi doesn't sit straight and I'm sure why. I'm not going to count stitches to find out why. Maybe it has something to do with the way I sewed the side seams.
I washed it on gentle and threw it in the dryer. Aah, the beauty of easy care yarn.

It's definitely looking more like summer here already...the plover and turnstones have flown away to Alaska, the litchee and mango trees are loaded and the shores are full of schools of baby aholehole and such. The whales have also gone. The vog has alternated with trade winds. There is little rain even here in Nuuanu. I may have to start watering some plants.

Pink Shibori, Small Project Bag

Pink Shibori, Small Project Bag
Originally uploaded by acornbud

This is my first project from fabric dyed in Shibori Class. This piece is the itajime technique. The screaming pink Kona cotton was fan folded and clamped, then indigo dyed. This is a synthetic indigo dye.

Over dyeing the Red-Orange Alpaca

Over-dyed alpaca
Originally uploaded by acornbud

I kind of suspected this yarn would be more red-orange then is comfortable for me, but it was baby alpaca and I was in the market for red yarn. I have since found out that scarves for the Red Scarf project do not have to be red. Duh.
My whole dyeing adventure began with a desire to tone this colorway down...going more toward the rust side.
Since I was very happy with my Koigu experiment with Wilton cake dye, I started by dying the yarn red. Well big surprise, lol, it turned red. I imagined that it was toned down and little, but the visiting niece and sister brought me back to reality. It was still screaming red and just a touch less orange. Having only blue left I added just a smidgen to the dye bath, and squirted some around. I was terrified it would all be totally purple or even worse, felted.
So I'm stopping here. It still screams a bit but is more to my liking.

Coconut Cream pie

Coconut Cream pie
Originally uploaded by acornbud

My sister is town and baked this thing of beauty. My neighborhood natural food market with the wonderful shredded coconut closed:( so we are trying this other stuff from Down to Earth.

Kiko

Kiko
Originally uploaded by acornbud

My parents cat Kiko. I thought she was sleeping but she was keeping her eye on the weirdo with the camera;)

Koigu One Skein Fingerless Mitts

Pattern: Koigu One Mitts by botgirl. Free!
Yarn: Koigu, red/orange colorway, over dyed with Wilton's blue food dye.
Needles: Size 1 DPNs
Mods: none
Comments: This is a great, fast easy knit which makes a lovely pair of fingerless mitts for a women.

I took a day trip to Paia, Maui to check on my dad's property with my BIL and niece. While we were walking up Baldwin Ave, a couple of my knitting buddies, blogless Dayna and Barbara, flagged me down. What a small world! They were visiting relatives in upcountry Maui. This is the wonderful Maui Yarn they gave me for my birthday last month. It's is very squishy and soft! The chocolate bar did not last long enough for a picture:) Thanks, ladies!

Fun with Yarn and a Crockpot

I love Koigu and when some free Koigu fell in my lap I couldn't say no. Never mind it was peachy pink and peachy red! It has marinated for quite a while in my stash. Another yarn that I bought online for a nice price, was some worsted baby alpaca for the red scarf project. It was much more orange then I hoped. I have been plotting way to tone down the red-orange so decided to try and over-dye it. The Koigu became my practice yarn.

MsKnottyKnits, Zinlizzie and Znitter on Ravelry were all so encouraging and helpful. Thanks! They shared some wonderful links to get me started as well as their experiences.

Knitty
PieKnits

I liked the Wilton's cake gel idea as it was readily available and non-toxic. My first try with the darker red/peach yard in a pie plate in the microwave oven was a bust. I used too little dye and too little water, so I dug out the crock pot and did all 3 skeins with Wilton's blue.


The lighter peach/pink turned out a very nice shade of blue. The dye did not sneak under the figure eight ties, but the small amount of pink left is fine with me.

The darker skein came out definitely purple, with more pink showing through. I only have one skein of this, not enough for a pair of socks.

The alpaca is skein-ed up and ready to dye. I'm not sure what color I'll try. Perhaps black cherry koolaid or the Wilton's in red. Or maybe black and red. From what I read, the resulting colors are somewhat unpredictable.

My niece from Manhattan is visiting and the sun came out for her!
The cel phone camera isn't the best but Diamond Head still looks classic:)

Chicken Little Pincushion 3

Chicken Little Pincushion 3 Originally uploaded by acornbud

Pattern: my own Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted. Bits of eyelash yarn. Needles: size 4 DPNs Stuffing: wool roving in natural Embellishments: wired ribbon leaves, ready-made silk and satin ribbon flowers. Thrifted object for "nest". Roses: grown by my mom, and what a wonderful fragrance they have! 4/17/2010: Untested pattern available on Ravelry.

Updated version:  Sept 6, 2020.  Only tested by me.  

Strawberries and Chicken Little Weird

Pattern: Strawberries by Pezdiva.
Yarn: Knitaly in red, some handspun and Encore in green.
Needles: size 4 dpn

What a quick, addicting little knit. I made a total of nine since yesterday for my walking group. I stuffed the strawberries with wool so they can be little pincushions. I know I will make more of these, perhaps adding the leaf by Robin Hill on Ravelry.

Chicken Little Weird, a pincushion, was inspired by a strange stuffed animal I saw in Safeway. He is knit of organic wool by smallest friend on Etsy. I glued him in the basket lined with ribbon leaves.

Totoro shawl pin

Totoro shawl pin
Originally uploaded by acornbud

This is my first attempt at a Totoro shawl pin. The acorn charm is silver clay, made by hint, on Etsy.

Saroyan, FO

Pattern: Saroyan by Liz Abinante It's available on Ravelry for free!
Yarn: Ultra Alpaca, Denim Mix
Needles: Size 9 straights

The pattern can be adjusted easily in length and width. I made 6 repeats on the increase decrease parts and 16 on the straight parts. The scarf measured while blocking was 82 inches long and 9.5 inches wide. Going down a needle size might have worked a little better. This scarf wraps around numerous times like a furry, warm pet and is cushy and soft. The pattern is well written and the lace easy to do.


On the life scene, I decided to go back into retirement and resigned from my job. It was nice while it lasted. I was working more then I ever planned to in retirement. When some scheduling changes came up, it seemed like the right time.

Now I have nothing on the needles again. Shall I join the Madelinetosh creature comforts cardi KAL with Opal? I'm not sure I want a whole cardigan in the Baltic Madelinetosh worsted which is what I have in stash. I'm on a yarn diet, yes I am. Shall I jump the gun and start Citron? Or maybe socks, Crosswalkers in STR.

Adventures with the Finnish Sock

In trying to rekindle my sock mojo I stalked Ravelry and looked through the my books and magazines. I really fell in love with Petäjä-sukat by Eeva Saviranta (Zeska on Ravelry). Alas, the Google translator does not speak Finnish knitspeak. I found two sites that had kniting terms, but it continued to stump me, especially the arch on the pattern chart. The other problem was that the stash is very low on solid colored sock yarn. The pattern is a six stitch pattern so I decided to use 6 stitch pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks, casting on 66 stitches.

The first try was a bust: Zitron Trekking Pro Natura. For the 2 stitch arch in the pattern arch, used knit second stitch on left needle without slipping off. Knit the first stitch and slip both off. On size one and two needles this was very fussy and the yarn was very splitty. I'm not sure what this yarn will be.

I changed the arch to K2 but do not slip off. Knit first stitch and slip both off. It was less fiddly and looked similar.

For the 3rd try I dug out some mystery yarn solid and went with the size 1 needles. Changing the arch again to knit second stitch through back loop, don't slip off the knit first stitch and slip both off. This did the trick and voila! A FO!

Zeska has since told me the translation for the arch in the pattern is “Slip 1, Knit 1, Yarn Over, pull the slipped stitch over both”. I suspect the original would be looser.

With my yarn being on the thickish side, it turned out just fine being tighter. My heel is short so next time I will do 16 gusset stitches instead off 17.














It was a beautful day for a walk with loaner dog Malu. Blogless Jan shared a some fresh eggs laid by her Easter Egg chickens. The eggs are a lovely pale green. She also cut these awesome flowers out of her yard!

Stash the Bunny

Stash the Bunny
Originally uploaded by acornbud

Pattern: Sophie by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Sandnes Garn Smart and some other mystery yarn
Needles: size 3
Mods: I ran out of yarn two rows from finishing his arm, so finished with another stash mystery yarn. The ears are a different color. I ran out of that yarn so shortened the ears by 9 rows. I also picked up and knit the ears as a single layer in garter stitch. I think the whiter yarn is a thicker gauge. My decreases on the face side looked different then the pattern, and that side was flatter so I put his head on backward. I love that this pattern has no seams:) I made a pompom tail and I'm gradually cutting it down to the right size.

March Ramblings

I read an article in the paper the other week about how blogging and MySpace are a thing of the past. The "young" have fled to Twitter,etc. As today I am just 1 year shy of turning the decade, I guess I no longer qualify as "young" so I'm exempt. I am exempt from being able to text while running in 4 inch heels as well, thank Bob.

I had a nice chat with the Verizonwireless dude. I felt like I was trying to buy a car even though I only went in there to buy a battery for the somewhat puffy battery living in the Landcaster's phone. I think my mistake was that I asked him to explain my 3G plan. I needed access when I travel only, for my netbook, so I got some pay as you go plan. He seemed shocked at how little the Landcaster and I use our phone or text. That didn't prevent him from launching into...phone upgrades, more minutes etc. In the end I think I wore him down, trying to divert his attention by bringing up the Big Red Fruit's attack on the HTCRoboPhone, etc. He agreed that there was no use in upgrading my archaic mere 500 minute plan to a 700 minute/3G plan. I was tempted by the myfi thingy with which I could cast my own wifi bubble around me and selected friends. So in the end he sold me a usb modem for my netbook, and which has a rebate, and a two year contract for an actually cheaper 3G plan, minus activation. When my beloved PalmTX dies, I will contemplate a Droid. By then perhaps the drama and bugs will be worked out.

It's tax time. I really don't understand all the tax implications of my tiny business with the Etsy store. The tax lady asked if I take inventory...OMG! Maybe I should have paid the $150 or the audit insurance!!

Working 3 days a week and I hope the regular position is hired soon so I can go back to the "6 weeks/year" I signed up for. Working sucks the creative energy out of me. My cold lingered and then I got pink eye which in the end turned out to be Episcleritis="nonspecific, idiopathic". Leave it to me to get something I had never had a patient with. Guess it's an eye doctor kind of disease.

So that's my excuse for not making much besides stitch markers for the store. In fact I'm too lazy to photograph them so I just sell them to friends who ask. I still have energy to acquire "supplies".

Knitting Beaverslide and CPH Hoodie vest was a hard act to follow. I CO with Zitron bamboo/wool socks yarn for a Finnish sock pattern on size 1 needles. The splittiness and pattern/yarn mismatch is driving me crazy. I frogged the whole darn thing and started over on size 2 needles but I'm still not too happy. I still adore the pattern and will either finish this sock or find better yarn in my stash somewhere!

Work is my excuse also for being too darn lazy to get the ball winder and swift out and roll some yarn. The Knitted Brow has moved all the way East to Atlanta and is not here to wind it up for me! Come back, Kim!

So what does a girl do? Lust of after yarn...I had the Malabrigo and the Koigu in the shopping basket, until I remembered I'm on a yarn diet. Oh boo. So I broke out the Ultra Alpaca and started Saroyan. The yarn is so silky and sproingy and fun to be with. The pattern really caught my eye and the Ultra Alpaca examples on Ravelry sold me. So there is hope there.


I knit the dog I'm supposed to have in my corner. He is a bit corny and has found a friend to hang with. I named him Buttons after the only real dog I ever owned.



I would like to knit a bunny for Easter, but after all that seaming for Buttons, I am searching for a seamless bunny.

Other FOs:
Stash Busting Scarf

Pattern: The Purl Scarf by Joelle Hoverson, from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.
Yarns: the really old Crystal Palace Country silk and the fluffy Crystal Palace Kid merino gifted to me by Angela.







Paper and Shibori Projects with Melody